Angry letters to the Economist won't suffice, says law expert

Putrajaya's meek response to The Economist's scathing article on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak suggests that Malaysia does not have a good case to defend itself, said constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari.

The correct response, he said, was to sue the publication for defamation rather than directing the Malaysian high commissioner to the UK to write to write a letter to the editor of The Economist.

"A government would normally do the right thing such as suing the paper in court instead of just expressing anger through the letters to the editor column.

"That in itself seems to suggest that we do not have a good case," he told Malaysiakini.

Last week, the London-based international news magazine had published an article entitled "Stop, thief! Malaysia's PM is about to steal an election".

The article accused the Najib administration of gerrymandering and other efforts to rig the coming general election in BN's favour.

Najib has not personally responded to the report.

High commissioner Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi's letter said the redrawing of electoral boundaries was a legitimate and court-sanctioned exercise to account for population growth.

Similarly, Election Commission chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah said Malaysia's election process was transparent and fair.

Obvious malapportionment

Critics of Malaysia's election system have pointed out that obvious malapportionment of electoral constituencies had allowed BN to win the 2013 elections despite getting only 47 percent of the popular vote.

They also pointed out that Putrajaya had refused to allow international election observers into Malaysia.

Abdul Aziz said Putrajaya's failure to take action against The Economist had serious implications for the entire government because civil service was unable to hold those in power to account.

"What the high commissioner has done proves that is not easy to stand up to the system, especially when the wrongdoing is perpetrated by the administrative head.

"But the principle is clear. A civil servant may only obey an order so long as it does not go against the law.

"One suddenly realises that what was done by the former attorney-general, Bank Negara governor and MACC chiefs was somewhat exemplary and very brave.

“All of them lost their jobs," said Abdul Aziz. -Mkini